Mood Change
by nineteennintytwo
Summary: Premovie. One kidnapping, Roxanne isn't herself. No witty banter or sarcastic comments. Megamind and Minion wonder why, but when they find out, it hits home for the blue genius.


Just a random one shot I came up with. There's one shots where Megamind comforts Roxanne when her parents die which are all post-movie. But I haven't seen a pre-movie one yet. So I wondered how Megamind would handle it, and this is what I came up with. I hope you all like it!

Disclaimer: I don't own the Megamind characters.

* * *

Mood Change

Megamind knew, the moment Minion removed the bag, that Roxanne wasn't herself. He always hoped for a scream from her at this point in the kidnapping, but that was never going to happen, and he knew it. Usually what he would receive was an earful, either in the form of witty banter, sarcastic comments, or complaints about how he _still_ hadn't washed the bag. Granted, Megamind always put up an annoyed front whenever she did, but he secretly enjoyed it; after all, he really didn't have anyone to talk to, besides Minion and Metro Man (the latter, though, tended to quote heroic lines far too often, which Megamind soon grew tired of).

But that day, the day of his scheme where he would attack the city using monster trucks with their own monstrous personalities, his favourite – correction, _only_ – kidnapee wasn't in the game. Where was the back and forth banter she usually started? No, instead she just sent him a cold look before her gaze fell to the floor, her shoulders drooped down and her complexion pale. Even her eyes weren't as blue as they usually where, and it was this which got him worried (he didn't want to admit it, but her eyes were his favourite thing about her).

Megamind watched her for a moment, waiting for her to say something, but was instead met with a tense silence. A silence which someone could cut with a knife. Eyebrows knotting together, Megamind leaned forwards to get a closer look at her; something was up, he knew it. He turned to Minion for support, but the fish just shrugged. Apparently the blue genius wasn't the only person who was baffled. Megamind signalled for Minion to say something; after all, he was a villain. He didn't want to make it look like he _cared_. Minion, on the other hand, blew the careless front first kidnapping.

"Miss Ritchi?" he asked cautiously, lowering himself down to try and look into her face. "Are you OK? Did I spray too much in your face?"

"No," she finally spoke, her gaze rising from the floor to meet with Megamind's bright green eyes. "Look, I know you never really listen to me anyway, but please, can we postpone this until another time? I'm really not in the mood right now."

"We cannot!" Megamind proclaimed, pointing a dramatic finger in the air. "Kidnapees do not _choose_ when they're going to be kidnapped. Otherwise there's no element of surprise. And they _certainly_ don't ask to be let go. Begging is more like it. Regardless, I have been working hard on this scheme, and I'm not about to pows-bone it just because you're 'not in the mood'."

"Megamind, I'm serious," Roxanne shot back, but not in the usual way she would; her tone was serious, just like she said. "Something's happened and I just...need some time...to myself..."

Her voiced cracked and she avoided eye contact with him once more, her posture even more slumped than it had been, and was that a..._tear_ in her eye? There it was, Megamind realized, trailing down her cheek. If there was one thing he knew about Roxanne Ritchi, it was that she didn't cry. She wasn't afraid of anything. Heck, she hadn't even been afraid when he'd first kidnapped her. Annoyed, if anything. Seeing the tear left him shocked; something _must_ be wrong in order for her to cry.

"Has Metro Man dumped you?"

"Ugh! For the last time, we're not dating!" Roxanne shouted back at him, not that there was any point.

"_Sure_," Megamind replied with a tone of sarcasm. "So has he?"

"It's nothing to do with him," she resorted, not bothering to deny the supposed relationship between herself and the superhero. "I really don't want to talk about it, especially to _you_, of all people. So do me a favour, and drop me back off at my apartment. I'll even repay you by screaming next time round."

Megamind thought this through. In truth, there were two reasons why he kidnapped Roxanne. The first was obvious and the reason he started kidnapping her in the first place; her relationship with Metro Man. No matter how many times she denied it to him, Megamind knew there was something going on between them, else the hero wouldn't keep coming to save her. But the second reason was that he liked her company. He enjoyed their banters, she kept him on his toes, and well, he had to admit that she was pretty. It wasn't very hard to see that he never got much attention from pretty girls, so to get it from her (even if it was negative attention) was a score.

With this in his oversized mind, Megamind knew that he wouldn't enjoy this kidnapping if she wasn't going to do the things she normally did. If she was just going to sit there, slumped like that without saying a word, the whole ordeal would just be boring. Sure, there was that witty banter with Metro Man, and the fun of seeing his nemesis fighting off his inventions, but it wouldn't be the same without Roxanne's frequent comments of sarcasm. And then there was the promise of a scream next time. Megamind had always wanted to know what her screams sounded like.

"Fine," he sighed, slumping back in his leather chair. "But I won't tell you when I will be kidnapping you again. Like I said, what's the point if there's no element of surprise?"

Roxanne said nothing as Minion took out the can and sprayed it in her face.

* * *

A few days later the two of them landed on Roxanne's balcony, ready to kidnap her again and continue with their evil scheme of monster truck mayhem. Megamind only hoped that she would be up for it by now. He knew she wouldn't be faking her mood; she usually enjoyed kidnappings as much as he did (as much as she tried to deny it and sound annoyed each and every time, Megamind always saw that gleam in her eyes which told him that she was loving every minute of it).

"I wonder what could have caused the mood a few days ago?" Minion mused aloud as he set down the jet pack.

"I don't really care what, so long as she's over it now," Megamind replied back. "I'm still convinced that she and Metro Man had some sort of argument. Then we can get them back together by kidnapping her; he'll come to the rescue, they'll realize that they're still in love, and everything will be back the way it was."

The balcony doors were opened and they crept into the dark apartment. The clock on the wall read 11:30; an unusually late kidnapping, but Megamind wanted a more scarier approach, to draw a more natural scream from his damsel. The idea of her screaming without anything to startle her didn't really satisfy him, after he thought about it harder. The two villains crept towards the bedroom, but froze when the familiar voice of the professional damsel-in-distress cut through the stealth they were trying to portray.

"You guys never quit, do you?"

They both turned when there realized that Roxanne wasn't even in her bedroom. She was on the couch, sending them that cold glare again – more specifically, at Megamind.

"Miss Ritchi, evil never quits!" Megamind proclaimed.

"Well can you at least quit it and leave me alone this once?" Roxanne asked. "All I want is to be left alone, and you're the _last_ person I want to see."

Megamind sighed; she was still in her 'mood'. He was about to snap back at her – tell her that he'd already postponed once and wasn't willing to do it again – but then he got a good look at her. She was still in her day clothes; a white vest and a pair of tracksuits, both of which were full of creases and looked all roughed up. Her hair was the same; untidy and a mess. She wore no make-up, her skin was still pale, and her eyes looked more grey than blue. It looked like she hadn't slept in days. Megamind realized that there was _definitely_ something wrong, and he wanted to get to the bottom of it. He reassured himself that it wasn't because he cared; the sooner she got over whatever it was, the sooner he could kidnap her.

"Here's the deal, Miss Ritchi," he told her. "You tell us what's wrong, and we'll leave."

"You wanna know what's wrong?" she echoed bitterly.

"Tell us, and we'll leave."

Nothing could prepare him for what she said next.

"My father passed away last weekend."

The smug, careless look faded immediately, and Megamind's eyes widened as he stared at Roxanne, who had lowered her eyes in order to avoid contact. Images of his own parents flashed before his eyes; their caring faces when they told him he was destined for something (he still hadn't quite figured that out yet), and how they had been determined to save him and him alone instead of themselves. He was brought back from his memories when Roxanne sniffed back a sob, and Megamind realized that she might start crying again. Which was the last thing he needed.

"He had a heart attack," Roxanne continued, as if she wanted it all out. "My mother called me when he was on the way to the hospital, but...he... they didn't make it before..."

She screwed her eyes shut and turned away. There was a long silence, which she expected (Megamind wasn't evil enough to laugh in her face about something like this, and she knew it), until she heard footsteps approaching her across the room. A hand touched her shoulder lightly. She briefly thought it was Minion; sure, the fish was the Evil Minion of an Evil Overlord, but he was polite, and even offered her dishes he tended to cook up if they were kept waiting too long for Metro Man. She wondered sometimes if the fish was really evil, at all.

But then she realized that the hand was too small, and was _leather_. Roxanne gasped and snapped her head up to attention, meeting the eyes of Megamind. He looked...concerned. She wondered if _he_ was really evil, at all.

Seeing her gaze, Megamind caught himself, trying his best to put up a careless front (but not succeeding).

"Well...er...I can see you're not well enough to be kidnapped," he stammered, trying his best to sound as if he didn't care. "So Minion and I will just...leave you...now."

With hesitant steps he walked away, towards the balcony where he would make a quick escape away from not only Roxanne, but the emotions that had surfaced. Very rare did they appear, but it made him very uncomfortable that they had surfaced in front of _her_. She had seen, he knew, and he hoped that she wouldn't tell a soul. That would be terrible for his reputation which he had worked so hard to achieve.

Roxanne watched him go, a little shocked but not at all surprised by his actions. Minion approached her and leaned in to make sure his boss couldn't hear what he was about to say.

"Miss Ritchi, don't tell anyone about that," he whispered, referring to Megamind's actions. "What you said... it kinda hit home for him. Don't tell him I said this, but he lost both his parents when he was just eight days old."

The woman's eyes softened at his words. Many times she thought Megamind had become a villain just because he could, but learning that he had lost family at such a young age, she couldn't help but feel...sorry for him. Was that why he had become evil? The traditional "painful-past" motivation?

"I won't tell a soul," she promised.

"Minion!"

"Coming, sir!" Minion called over his shoulder. "Ciao, Miss Ritchi."

And just like that, they were gone.

* * *

Roxanne expected Megamind to kidnap her again the following week, just like he was scheduled to. But no. He left her alone for a _whole month_. Which was, without doubt, a record for him. The young woman decided not to question it; she was grateful, for the spare time allowed her to come to terms with her father's death. And by the time she heard the familiar sound of the can of spray, she was back to her old, nosy reporter self.

She even happily repaid Megamind for leaving her alone by letting out a scream when he revealed his latest scheme, which had him cackling with glee, and kept the smile on his face even when Metro Man was hauling him back off to prison.

* * *

Hope I got them all in character. It was hard, I can tell you that.

Oh, and I have a new poll up on my profile. It lists possible story ideas for Megamind, which I'm considering starting. Please vote for one you think I should write first, because I'm not so sure. Thanks!


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